Sporting events is a growing area that is becoming more popular to attend by both locals and
tourists. There are discussions on how to measure positive experiences for guests at these
events to even further enhance their visit and make it even more pleasurable. This discussion
is the foundation of this essay. The study examines visitor’s experiences during the World
Championship in Biathlon 2008, as well as how these experiences can be used to develop
event planning. The study is based on partaking observations, made during the event, with the
purpose to determine when and where negative and positive experiences occur. Its further
intention is to conclude the reason to why the experience was identified that way. The
partaking observations were made by students in the tourism science field of study at Mid
Sweden University i Östersund. The observations were conducted at the event by the observer
taking notes describing; what type of experience took place; when and where the experience
took place; grading the intensity of the experience on a scale from 1-5, and noticing if the
experience was positive or negative. By using this method, it has been possible to establish
the specific aspects of the experience in both a time and space perspective. The observations
gathered a solid material base and have been complemented with selected questions from a
survey among visitors to the World Championship in Biathlon. The collected material is
analyzed through earlier knowledge in event planning and customer satisfaction. Implemented
theories are Pine and Gilmores experience field, L. Mossberg’s model of factors influencing
experiences of the visitor, as well as G. Fernström’s concept of satisfying visitors. The result
of the study shows that even though experiences at events are perceived in a personal way and
can differ from person to person; there are several common factors for experiences that are
possible for event planners to have an effect on. The experiences show that when the visitor is
actively participating in creating the experience it is more often likely to be considered
positive.